My brother-in-law had a couple of boxes and several scrapbooks full of old photos of my husbands family. He allowed me to bring them home, after promising I would return them all in the same way I received them. I then scanned them, copied them all on to discs, and then distributed them to my husband's siblings or family representatives of those siblings. That way everyone could have a copy of the photos. It would be up to those I gave the discs to to distribute the pictures to their family members.
The best part is that they are all digitized and will not be lost as older people, "holders of the originals," start to pass on.
Granted many did not have names on them. My husband and I did sit down with the "holder" and another brother and we all tried to identify as many as we could. Many had names on the back. Few had dates. A few had identifying objects, such as cars or a style of clothing, that would allow us to make an educated guess as to the time frame the picture might have been taken.
Obtaining those photos was great. I have another brother-in-law that has several more that I am trying to get. My mom has a box full that she is willing to let me go through. I called an aunt that does a lot of genealogy. She and her daughter recently went through their pictures and scanned many that might mean something to me. Those came through e-mail to me yesterday.
In going through FamilySearch.org, I found some pictures of people that are identified as my ancestors or related to my ancestors. What a treasure trove that was. Anyone can sign into FamilySearch.org. You can upload your genealogy as you know it and you might find people have already posted pictures and histories that you can download into your database software. Ancestry.com will allow the same thing. You do have to have a paid subscription to Ancestry, but it is worth it. Not only can you find pictures of people you are related to, but you can find census reports and where to get birth and death records.
So go search for your ancestors, whether you search in your grandma's attic for old pictures or go on-line and do searches. It is a fun endeavor and brings you closer to those that came before you.
One thing you should do, as time allows, is go through all your pictures and label them. Label with as much information as you can. If they are paper, write the info on the back with a pen that does not show through to the front. If they are already in a scrapbook, write what you know and put it with the picture. If they are electronic, put as much as you can in the title of the picture. It is nice that you can have long names on your picture files now.
Trust me, it will help you when you get older and think, "I should know who that is and when that picture was taken." I am experiencing that more now than I ever thought I would.
The above photo was one that my Aunt Merlyn sent to me yesterday. What a treasure it is. Just think, I could have gone through my life and never knew it existed. All it took was a phone call and someone willing to help me out. Thanks, Merlyn.
When we die we become 'stories' in the minds of other people.
